One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and gender discrimination.

In a brief journal entry, Scott Turow expresses his feelings of inadequacy as a first-year student at Harvard Law School. The program brings out intense feelings of fear and competition, and he has taken up smoking and drinking to deal with the pressure.

Turow opens the Preface with broad statements about the first year of law school. Although Harvard Law School is exclusive, first-year law curriculum is similar across the country in its basic course options and delivery through case studies and the Socratic method. Students learn the language of law, the building blocks of the lawyer’s role, and a new perspective that sticks with them after graduation.

Turow’s intention for writing the book is to reflect the atmosphere of competition and personal change that most first-year students experience. He uses his own journal entries and immediate retrospective reflections to describe the events of his first year at Harvard Law School. He tried to preserve the anonymity of his peers and professors by changing their names and backgrounds, or by combining traits from multiple people into single, composite characters.